It’s been done on several other occasions:
Graduation Day II - it’s wearing a mortar board
OMWF - it sings “Grr Aaargh!”
There’s also one ep, I forget which but I think it’s Amends, where it’s wearing a Santa hat and jingling bells.
I thought the whole “We are as gods” was vary funny. Esp. when Andrew came back to it.
I fell in love with the series last May. Reading here and being home sick, bored to sawdust in my head, I went out and picked up season 1 on DVD. The way Swedish TV has treated it, I never really got a chance to get hooked. Also, most TV-series based on a movie suck big time, and since I remembered the movie as so-so, the whole concept didn’t interest me.
I’m gonnamake a weak analogue to real-life relationships: I’m still infatuated. The minor flaws are not annoying. But as with real life, after seven years with the same person, you might still love your SO, but the flaws and everyday boredom makes you for less forgiving.
And I guess this is happening to old time fans. And that might explain why I’m raving about this episode. Hey, it’s only been six months since the Initiative for me.
Also, the writing arc over seven seasons reminds me of Moonlightning, where the writers of the last seasons took some… liberties with conventions in television. I enjoyed that, too.
Doesn’t wash with me, Gaspode. I know many people who are enjoying S7, and we’ve been there from the first BBC transmission or before - some of us even watched the original Sky run before they dropped it somewhere around 2X05.
To get thoroughly back on topic - how many S1 episodes did you spot references to in 7X16?
Why would they tell him who killed his mother? He’s a mere human. At the time, he was only four years old IIRC. He wanted to avenge his mother’s death. Telling him where to find the killer seems like it would only lead to his own death at Spike’s hands.
I realize that he eventually grew up and became a good hand at slaying, but by that time he apparently was no longer in contact with the council.
Continuity-break:
So the knife needed was in the kitchen drawer? And only that knife will do? So what was Ashanti up to? And why was Andrew sent to buy blood?
Minor nitpicks, maybe. And they don’t bother me. But still…
Evil Death, I’ll have to see the episode again, but that’ll have to wait till tonight. I actually want to see it again, anyway.
Not bad- the annual humor episode. 8.5 out of 10.
It was nice to see a theme. Spike’s scenes were good- especially the retake scene. Heh heh heh.
Almost all the characters had good lines and showed strong acting, except for the horrid Kennedy, who can’t act, and actually made a scene with a women kissing Willow seem unappealing- now that takes some really bad acting. Every scene I hope for her painful death at the hands of the Bringers, or a run-away garbage truck.
oh gobear, the series as had that for 3 seasons now-- her name is Willow.
:mad:
Oh crap-- that :mad: was not supposed to be there! Try a 
instead. Sorry 'bout that. Yeesh, that’s what I get for posting without coffee.
True. But that’s not what happened. What happened was that the suit-and-tie guy said, “Fill it with concrete,” not “It has been filled with concrete.” And since he followed that line up with “…and salt the earth,” we’re entitled to assume he may have been speaking metaphorically, or he may have been speaking literally, but other factors that we didn’t see prevented his command from being completely carried out. That ISN’T a jarring narrative experience - it’s merely a, “Huh- looks like they didn’t do the concrete thing after all.”
Unless Nikki’s Watcher was on that subway train, he has no way of knowing for sure who killed her. Granted, she and Spike may have been planning to meet there, so he might have known about it – but it’s equally plausible to say that he wouldn’t. This is also born out by Giles’ comments in the episode where we first saw Nikki – Watchers’ diaries rarely include the details of the deaths of the their Slayers.
- Rick
Maybe the knife was needed just to open it up for the first time. after that any old source of blood would do. And how come no one noticed the steak knife with all the funky writing on it in the utensil drawer before?
Well, I did say in my first post, "If it were not for Willow being such a cool lesbian. . . "
Enjoyable ep. Not much to add to the discussion. But a minor nitpick. Has anyone else noticed that the “previously, on BTVS” leadins are getting longer and longer?
I didn’t think things were all that complex that they really needed to make sure everyone was following everything. It strikes me as tho they’re almost saying, "This is the last season, and it’s really important, so pay attention."
gobear
What about, oh, WILLOW?
Fibber
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Extrano
I went back and forth on this ep. I got truly annoyed at some of the Andrew fantasy moments. They were a waste of time. Establish that he’s in the fantasy world and then use the screen time to do something else. But I liked Andrew’s character development, more development in a single ep than anyone else has had in the last three seasons. I’m really hoping that, if Andrew makes his crush on Xander known to him, that Xander handles it well and doesn’t freak out.
I thought the “tears quiet the seal” thing was really interesting but I have to wonder how Buffy knew about it. She indicated to Wood that Willow couldn’t narrow anything down. I suppose that with the knife she could have tracked down more specifics but they didn’t tell us that. This has been one of my big gripes this season. Stuff may or may not happen off-camera that the characters act on (the knife, Xander’s impossible text message, Willow’s knowing to seek out the Wicca group, etc.) and it’s just sloppy. Things that could be fixed with a single line of dialog (i.e. Willow enters the room with the Wiccans and says “I heard you all had moved beyond bake sales”) instead become annoying holes or oversights or contrivances.
I think you’re right, Dinsdale. The "previously"s feel like primers.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Andrew, and as a result liked this episode. And maybe I’m becoming a little more conservative, but I was a little surprised by Anya’s last line in the beginning: “Why can’t you just masturbate like the rest of us?” (apologies for any misquoting.) Tom Lenk showed a lot of acting range, going from smarmy Vam-pyre Theater to creepy zombie possession to blithering lackey to schoolgirl fluttery to sorrowful and contrite. Great job.
“We are as gods” was hysterical, and looked just like an allergy medication commercial.
Now why did the Seal want tears again? I got a little confused.
Sunnydale High is trashed again. I wonder what kind of insurance they have. Did anyone read meaning into the “no one no one” spray-painted over the door to the Hellmouth basement?
Oh look, more posts while I was typing!
Gaspode
I interpreted this to mean that the ritual knife was needed to start the process but after the seal had been activated any blood would do. Of course this is not made explicit through dialog or anything…sloppy!
Oh, which reminds me, let’s welcome back Andrew’s sacrificial pig! I’m calling him “Wilbur.” Welcome back, Wilbur!
Bricker
Well, he ordered the Initiative be filled in with concrete, which I took literally. He then said “Burn it down, gentlemn. Burn it to the ground and salt the earth.” [That was the metaphorical part. Certainly something may have prevented the actual order from being carried out, although considering the size of the construction project to build the complex in the first place that apparently no one in town noticed, some trucks toting tons of concrete to be poured down an elevator shaft in a frat house should have posed no problem at all for the Army Corps of Engineers.
does no one remember Ace & Gary?
“What are you looking at?”
“NOTHING!”
I liked this episode—it would have been a solid January or March ep, but for Feb sweeps, it was not strong enough.
The kid who threw rocks at Wood, and then later the kid (same one maybe?) who hit him with the fire extinguisher is my new favorite character. Too bad he didn’t hit him with all 3 rocks. I’m just getting really, really sick of Wood’s smug, arrogant face. It needs to be broken. Perferably by Spike.
The Miracle Tears of Redemption was lame in the script and it was lame on screen.
“We are as Gods” cracked me up. From now on, that bit is going to be in every video I make.
I think there were some pretty big clues dropped for the season though. “People forget that balance is important.” (Did she say “key”? I can’t remember, but that would have been cool.) Xander’s the “heart of the Slayer operation.” Of course life’s not a story Buffy, it’s a song. There were several more, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head, I’m going to have to rewatch the ep.
Has anyone mentioned how in The Killer In Me, when Andrew talks about The First “Having its way” with him, he holds his buttocks protectively?
Comedy gold.
And pepperlandgirl, your post fills me with tingling…
They did show Buffy and Willow at the computer again after Andrew reads the knife for them. And they did indicate to the group that they learned something. But it was necessary for the plot to not tell what they learned.
On a commentary track on one of the DVD’s, someone from the ME crew says something to the effect: “If Joss had had a single happy day in high school, we wouldn’t be here today.”
But Xander grew up. And Willow too. Xander’s working construction and almost got married. Will got evil and turned gay (not as a combination). So JW needs a geek as his alter ego en the show. And that might be why Andrew is getting a more prominant part.
And I still think Tom Lenk did a very good job with his acting in this episode. Very, very good.
And returning to Evild Death’s question: I watched it again and there are a number of references, but nothing I noticed that was from season 1. What did you find?
For one, the student fading away in front of Buffy a la Marcie from “Invisible Girl.” Possibly the “everybody hates cheerleaders” was a reference to the cheerleader tryout ep?